Baltimore and Washington in competition to sell tickets for soccer exhibitions

Don Markus, The Baltimore Sun

In competition for another kind of football fan, the Baltimore Ravens hope to get a jump on the Washington Redskins when tickets go on sale Tuesday for this summer's friendly between two prominent English Premier League teams.

Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool will play an exhibition game at M&T Bank Stadium on July 28, the same day Chelsea is scheduled to play A.C. Milan at FedEx Field. The game in Baltimore will start at 1 p.m because the Orioles play at home that night.

The game in Landover will be played in the evening. Tickets for that game will go on sale in mid-April, a Redksins spokesman said Monday.

Baker Koppleman, Ravens vice president for ticket sales and operations, said this year's game in Baltimore should attract more than the 36,500 fans who showed up two summers ago to watch Manchester City play Inter Milan.

"The brands of the teams drive a lot of the ticket sales, and we feel that Liverpool and Tottenham are two very recognizable brands," Koppelman said. "While Manchester City and Inter Milan are two very good teams, they are not as well-known among the average soccer fan."

Tottenham, which plays in North London and has a large Jewish following that could attract local fans from Baltimore and Montgomery counties, is currently tied for third in the Premier League. Liverpool, once a Premier League power, is in eighth and could be in jeopardy of its lowest finish in nearly two decades.

It is unlikely that this year's matchup will do as well as the 2009 soccer exhibition at M&T Bank Stadium, when Chelsea and A.C. Milan drew more than 72,000 fans.

Koppelman said having the Baltimore game on the same day as the one in Landover was unavoidable.

"We were too far along in the negotiations when that game came on our radar," he said.

Ticket sales for this year's game in Baltimore will allow for a longer lead time than two years ago. Tickets for the 2010 match went on sale six to eight weeks later than the previous year because Inter Milan was involved in the Champions League tournament.

Koppelman also said his staff, as well as the Maryland Office of Sports Marketing, can devote more time to promoting this year's game because the NCAA men's lacrosse Final Four won't be played in Baltimore this spring.

Starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday, tickets will become available at ticketmaster.com and at the Ravens' box office. The Baltimore Blast, the city's professional indoor soccer team, will also help sell tickets.

The top-end tickets, on the club level and the lower midfield, will cost $125. Flanking sideline seats will be $79 dollars, while end zone seats will cost $56. An area behind each goal will also be designated as a "support section" for each team. Upper sidelines and upper end zone seats will cost $41 and $36, respectively.